Universal Pictures, one of Hollywood’s biggest studios, and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the largest U.S. theater chain, announced a landmark deal slashing the cinema operator’s exclusive rights to movies.

The agreement, which ends a dispute between the companies, means AMC will have as few as 17 days of exclusive rights to show Universal movies, before the studio can begin marketing them for on-demand viewing at home.

The accord upends the old arrangement between Comcast Corp.-owned Universal and AMC, which used to enjoy as many as 90 days of exclusive theatrical rights to new movies. It may act as a roadmap for other studios that have sought to limit the time they are forced to show their new releases in cinemas.

Said Adam Aron, AMC’s chief executive officer: “AMC enthusiastically embraces this new industry model both because we are participating in the entirety of the economics of the new structure, and because premium video on demand creates the added potential for increased movie studio profitability, which should in turn lead to the green-lighting of more theatrical movies.”

The agreement comes at a sensitive time for AMC and other theater chains, which have had to raise new capital to survive for months without revenue because of the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.